Byampangi & 2 Others v Kigoora (Civil Application 23 of 2019)

Observed later treatment

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

Holding

The applicants sought extension of time to lodge an application for a certificate of importance after the Court of Appeal refused a certificate, their application being eight days outside the 14-day period under Rule 39(1)(b) of the Supreme Court Rules. The single Justice accepted that the first applicant was away from Kampala attending to the loss of his son and was unaware of the ruling date, making it impossible to lodge within time, and that counsel could not act without instructions. Holding that a delay of eight days was not inordinate in those circumstances, the Court found sufficient cause shown and granted the extension, directing that the application be filed within seven days.

Outcome

Extension of time granted; applicants to file the application for a certificate of importance within seven days.

Facts

The applicants filed Civil Application No. 214 of 2011 in the Court of Appeal seeking a certificate of importance to appeal to the Supreme Court. That application was dismissed on 11 September 2019, the ruling being delivered on notice in the absence of the applicants, who were unaware of the date. The first applicant, the main contact person, had lost a son, which disrupted his schedule and left him unreachable on his known telephone contacts. The applicants only learned of the dismissal on 1 October 2019 when the first applicant called their lawyer. Under Rule 39(1)(b) of the Supreme Court Rules, an application following the Court of Appeal's refusal of a certificate must be lodged within 14 days of the refusal. The applicants lodged their application in the Supreme Court on 3 October 2019, eight days outside the prescribed period, and accordingly sought an extension of time.

Issues

1. Whether the applicants had shown sufficient cause to justify an extension of time within which to file an application for a certificate of importance in the Supreme Court.

Orders

• Extension of time within which to file the application for a certificate of importance granted.
• The application for a certificate of importance to be filed within seven (7) days from the date of the ruling.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (3)

• Supreme Court Rules r.2(2)
• Supreme Court Rules r.5
• Supreme Court Rules r.39(1)

Cases citing this judgment (1)

How later Ugandan judgments in the Wakilii corpus have cited this case. Treatment labels come from Sequitur — Uganda’s citator — each backed by a verbatim span from the citing judgment, and are not an assertion that this case is, or is not, good law.

• Mugisha v Aston Kajara and Another (Civil Appeal 2 of 2024)

The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.